AI agent infra · replacement recipe

Go from Browserbase to Browserbase (free tier)

The job: Headless browser infra (Hosted headless browsers). Pick where you are today and where you want to land; the move below follows your pick.

From · what you pay for now
Browserbase
Browserbase Developer · $20/mo
Year one+$228modeled
To · your pickBest fit
Browserbase (free tier)
Free plan · $0 a month
Change where you land

The money

$20/mo today $0/mo

Browserbase Developer

Year one, net+$228
Pays back in0.6 months

Modeled from public list prices, with your time at $50 an hour. Show the math

Does it do the job? 1 of 1 covered

  • Hosted headless browsers

The work

Setup
About 15 min
Upkeep
None
Watch out
Check first: You only rely on: Hosted headless browsers

Make the move in four steps

  1. Export from Browserbase

    Session recordings (replays). Format: MP4, one file per recorded page (tab)

    Export steps

  2. Check what Free plan keeps

    1 browser hour, 3 concurrent browsers, 15-minute sessions, 3 agent runs, 1,000 Search and 1,000 Fetch calls, $5 of model tokens, 7-day data retention; no CAPTCHA solving…

    Details

  3. Switch to Free plan

    Change the plan in Browserbase's billing settings before your renewal date.

  4. Check the next bill

    Your next Browserbase invoice should show the lower price. Check that your data and links still work.

Open BrowserbaseHow to cancel Browserbase
Modeled, not measured. Savings use public prices and planning assumptions: the bill you stop paying, minus the new tool, your upkeep time and your setup time at $50/hour, over the first 12 months. Paths marked Tested by Stackcut were run end to end by us on our own products. They're our tests, not customer results. Check the must-haves in each recipe before you switch.

The whole recipe: 4 ways out, best first

What you use

  • Hosted headless browsers

Not covered

  • Session recordings
  • Proxies
  • Stealth and captcha handling
  • Search API
  • Fetch/extract API
  • Stagehand SDK

Check before switching

  • You only rely on: Hosted headless browsers
  • Export your data from Browserbase before canceling

Agents: get_recipe("replace-browserbase") on the Stackcut MCP server.

4 ways out, best first

Cheaper planBrowserbase (free tier)Saves $228 in year one
$20/mo today → $0/mo · setup 0.25 h · then $240/yr · payback 0.6 mo
If your use fits the free tier (1 browser hour, 3 concurrent browsers, 15-minute sessions, 3 agent runs, 1,000 Search and 1,000 Fetch calls, $5 of model tokens, 7-day data retention; no CAPTCHA solving, no proxies, no stealth mode).
Covers 100% of the core features
Free plan for prototyping; Developer is $20/mo with 100 browser hours.
How we got this
You pay now: Browserbase Developerflat price$20/mo
New cost: Browserbase (free tier)free plan$0/mo
Difference each month$20 − $0+$20/mo
Over 12 months+$20 × 12+$240
Setup, once0.25 h × $50/h−$12
Year one+$240 − $12+$228
  • Not counting your time (0.25 h in year one): saves $240 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: browserbase.com
Agent skillAgent skill: agent-browserCosts $160 more in year one
$20/mo today → $0/mo + 0.5 h upkeep · setup 2 h
Browser automation for agents on your own machine or server, instead of paying for hosted browser sessions for light use.
Covers 100% of the core features
Assumes you already pay for an agent that runs skills (an agent that supports Agent Skills (e.g. Claude Code/Cowork, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI); the agent's own subscription is not counted); that agent's cost isn't counted. Setup (2 h) and upkeep (0.5 h a month) are Stackcut's estimates; not tested by Stackcut.
License: Apache-2.0
Install: npm install -g agent-browser && npx skills add vercel-labs/agent-browser
How we got this
You pay now: Browserbase Developerflat price$20/mo
New cost: Agent skill: agent-browserruns in the agent you already pay for$0/mo
Your upkeep time0.5 h/mo × $50/h$25/mo
Difference each month$20 − $0 − $25−$5/mo
Over 12 months−$5 × 12−$60
Setup, once2 h × $50/h−$100
Year one−$60 − $100−$160
  • Not counting your time (8 h in year one): saves $240 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: github.comraw.githubusercontent.combrowserbase.com
Agent skillPlaywright MCPCosts $160 more in year one
$20/mo today → $0/mo + 0.5 h upkeep · setup 2 h
Let the agent drive a real browser (accessibility snapshots) locally instead of a hosted browser API for light use.
Covers 100% of the core features
Assumes you already pay for an agent that runs skills (any MCP client); that agent's cost isn't counted. Setup (2 h) and upkeep (0.5 h a month) are Stackcut's estimates; not tested by Stackcut.
License: Apache-2.0
Install: claude mcp add playwright npx @playwright/mcp@latest (README has the same for Codex, Cursor, Amp and others)
How we got this
You pay now: Browserbase Developerflat price$20/mo
New cost: Playwright MCPruns in the agent you already pay for$0/mo
Your upkeep time0.5 h/mo × $50/h$25/mo
Difference each month$20 − $0 − $25−$5/mo
Over 12 months−$5 × 12−$60
Setup, once2 h × $50/h−$100
Year one−$60 − $100−$160
  • Not counting your time (8 h in year one): saves $240 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: github.comraw.githubusercontent.combrowserbase.com
Agent skillBrowser Use skillCosts $160 more in year one
$20/mo today → $0/mo + 0.5 h upkeep · setup 2 h
Direct browser control over CDP for scraping, form filling and testing (Cursor Marketplace description).
Covers 100% of the core features
Assumes you already pay for an agent that runs skills (an agent that supports Agent Skills (e.g. Claude Code/Cowork, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI); the agent's own subscription is not counted); that agent's cost isn't counted. Setup (2 h) and upkeep (0.5 h a month) are Stackcut's estimates; not tested by Stackcut.
License: MIT
Install: npx skills add browser-use/browser-use
How we got this
You pay now: Browserbase Developerflat price$20/mo
New cost: Browser Use skillruns in the agent you already pay for$0/mo
Your upkeep time0.5 h/mo × $50/h$25/mo
Difference each month$20 − $0 − $25−$5/mo
Over 12 months−$5 × 12−$60
Setup, once2 h × $50/h−$100
Year one−$60 − $100−$160
  • Not counting your time (8 h in year one): saves $240 in year one.

Year one = 12 × (what you pay now − the new cost − upkeep) − setup, with your time at $50/hour. Prices are public list prices; hours are Stackcut’s planning estimates. Price it for your team

Sources: github.comraw.githubusercontent.combrowserbase.com

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